...but the food is good...

I did not mention that, on the very first step to get on the path to go to Palagi beach, Lisa slide off the trail, all the way down to beach. She was eventually able to climb up, and continue the hike to the beach. This island is not a place for wimp!
Today, we received her e-mal:

"Okay-- so some of you may know that I fell off a 12 foot cliff hiking on our way to Palagi Beach on Sunday... I came home with severe pain in my leg and also discovered that I had a temperature of 103. I went to the ER at LBJ to have my leg x-rayed and to be tested for Strep Throat. The doctor gave me antibiotics for the Strep Throat and told me that my leg wasn't fractured and basically laughed at me for being a wimp.
So today (um... 4 days later!!!) the doctor called to ask me how my leg was. Here is how the conversation went:

"Oh, hi, this is the Doctor from LBJ who saw you on Sunday, is this Lisa?"
Me: "Yes, oh, how are you?"
Doc: "Oh, how is that leg doing."
Me: "Not so good, it still really, really hurts, not much progress."
Doc: "Oh yeah, that is why I'm calling, I just had radiology look at your X-rays and it turns out
that your tibia is actually fractured." "So can you come in tomorrow at 9am for an appt. with the orthopedic surgeon?"
Me: "I have court at 9am, could I come in later?"
Doc: "OH, you are a lawyer, please don't sue us...."
Me: "hum...... see you tomorrow at 12 noon."

So, yup, GREAT medical care here... great! I'll let you know what fun adventures lay ahead..."

A couple of years ago, another palagi -now off-island-, Jeff, felt on a rock on the beach. The leg hurt a lot, he had very high fever, but the docte or also decided that the bone was not broke. And, in effect, it was not. The only thing that the doctor did not notice for different days, was a external body laying right next to the bone.
So they dedided to remove the external body (Jeff fever was always high) and they found.... a cute little living shell!!

Moral of the story: yes, our hospital is a very scary place to be if you are in need, but at least the food is good at the cafeteria!!! As Brian of Nazareth once said... "Always look at the bright side of life"...

Later on this evening, Liz solved the radiology mistery in one of the many e-mail that followed Lisa's mail:
"Here's the problem. The (meaning the one and only) radiologist doesn't work 24/7 so when a film comes in it is initially read by a doctor that may not recognize a hairline or something (they'd catch a big break though I'm sure, esp if it was jutting out your skin). So the actual specialist looks at the films as needed. It's a triage type of situation like all departments here. Just pretend you are living an episode of MASH-the health care will go up a couple of notches in your estimation. And you did pay $20 (or less) for that visit! And just think-you didn't die today (every day that doesn't happen is a good one)!"

So, now that I know... thinking about my night at the hospital after the car accident... they took a bunch of X-rays at my knees and legs... when I looked at the radiographies, i thought i saw the same kind of line i saw on the X-rays taken for my broken arm (many many many years ago)... The doctor that looked at my X-rays did seems like the doctor from the movie "idiocracy"... As a matter of fact, the hospital did also mysteriously lost all my record (that i could therefore not use for the insurance claim..). So, I will never know if I did brake something too the night of the accident, but that would surely explain why I could not walk for a while!!!